April 28th: You know what the was.
April 29th: The week day long run that is just that bit too long to make sense. This was supposed to be 8 miles, but I got in just over 7 and that was entirely fine. Once I hit the hour mark on a weekday it just is a bit too much especially since there's some form a cooldown or a walk depending on what's happening.
April 30th: This was another previous workout that I'd done. 3-2-1 miles with the 3 and 2 at MP and the 1 and HMP with .5 between sets. When I looked last time I did this one way too fast and I also remember sort of cheating, meaning I stopped to use a restroom which gets the heart rate down. This time I wanted to keep the splits closer to MP where called for to just sit in that pace. I managed to do that pretty well with the splits: 8:02, 7:57, 7:55, 7:58, 7:55 and 7:32. I found that the MP pace was not something that skyrocketed my heart rate or made me feel out of control which was good. I also focused on remaining calm and collected when at those paces because, ideally, I'll be at that pace for a while.
May 1st: "It's gonna be May." Also rest day.
May 2nd: Well this day go away from me at work at the plan to be home timely, to run on my Main Street, and enjoy my Friday resulted in me getting home an hour and a half later than planned. My other original plan was to long run on Saturday which, viewing the temps, I was sort of iffy about, but with the late return from work and wanting to get in my miles, this all went out the window. It was frustrating and I worked hard to not have it derailed me. I was somewhat successful. I did the prescribed 7 miles on the treadmill (which started at 6:45pm!) and still managed to eat an okay meal and get to bed somewhat decent. I now shifted to long run on Sunday and the 6 miles on Saturday unless I woke up ready to go for the 20 miler.
May 3rd: I did not wake up ready to go for the 20 miler. But I did get in a very lovely 6 mile run on a local rail trail. It was warmer out so I just kept myself calm with a low effort and it was really nice.
May 4th: This was the last long run and it was a spicy one too. The plan was 7 mile warmup 3 miles at MP, 1 mile recovery three times with a 2 mile cooldown. I woke up early (which my watch had my sleep as optimal and at 90%, what?!?) and was at least beginning the run around 8:30. It was higher in temp and humidity then I think I handle well so I was already sort of making deals with myself and excuses that, if I couldn't do this, I have something to blame. The first loop around the lake made me feel less than optimistic about the pick-ups, but I told myself to try. I regrouped just a little but before the tempo started. The 3 miles actually felt okay. I felt like I was in control and wasn't overheating or at risk of dehydrating etc. I kept myself on a UCAN every 3.5 miles and took in salt tabs. I drank about 10 ounces of water which I think is still low, but I didn't feel awful. Each mile I just kept saying run the mile you're in and I kept an eye on the paces to stay within the MP goal. The splits were: 8:04, 8:01, 7:53, 8:02, 8:08, 7:55, 8:04, 7:58, 7:57. I enjoy that the last mile is always the fastest.
This was a workout where I realized that, although I really hope the marathon goes well, this was perhaps one of the best workouts I've had and easily one of the best long runs. I felt like I was in control even when there were moments with a little lack of control an spikes in effort/heart rate/stomach what's up. It was just good and an accomplishment. I am proud of this and that's something special.
No comments:
Post a Comment